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Complete results and analysis of every fight at UFC 138.
Renan Barao didn't need a lot of time to beat up and finish Brad Pickett at UFC 138. He hurt him standing and finished him on the ground in the first round with a rear naked choke.
It was a mixed night for British fighters at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England but Brad Pickett's first round loss to Renan Barao put a negative overall light on the event from the nationalistic perspective. Barao and Pickett traded punches fairly evenly for most of the fight until Barao stunned Pickett with a standing knee and quickly finished it on the ground.
Barao improves to 4-0 in UFC and WEC bouts. Coming out of the same Nova União camp as featherweight champ Jose Aldo, he has to be considered a serious threat to Dominick Cruz' 135lb title.
This was Pickett's UFC debut after going 3-1 in the WEC. He was originally supposed to make his UFC debut at UFC 130 but a back injury forced the delay.
Thiago Alves needed a win against Papy Abedi at UFC 138 and he got it. Alves beat the UFC new comer to the punch over and over again before dropping him with a combination and finishing the fight with a rear naked choke.
Alves came out early landing sharp leg kicks and moving out of range of Abedi's punches early. Abedi forced a clinch about two minutes in and landed some punches on the break. Just as Abedi looked to be holding his own, Alves put him on queer street with a combination of punches and Alves pounced. He dropped Abedi and followed him to the ground for the rear naked choke finish.
This marks Alves' first submission victory after 16 bouts in the Octagon. He missed weight for this fight on his first attempt to weigh in yesterday, but was able to make the 171 pound limit on the second try.
Alves desperately needed the win after going 1-3 in his last four fights. He remains way out of contention in the UFC's stacked 170lb division, but he's back on the right track after this win.
Abedi drops to 0-1 in the UFC and 8-1 overall. Look for him to get a second chance in the UFC when they next come to Europe.
Anthony Perosh showed that Cyrille Diabate still can't grapple at UFC 138. The Australian grappler struggled early while the fight was on the feet but managed to finish Diabate on the ground in the 2nd round.
Diabate used his range and footwork to back Perosh up against the cage early in the first round. He quickly cut the Australian with a couple of punches and reddened his ribs with a body kick. Perosh finally made a fairly feeble single leg attempt around the 2.5 minute mark, but Diabate fought him off. At the 2 minute mark, Perosh pulled guard and ended up eating a couple of hard hammer fists for his troubles before Diabate stood back up. Perosh managed to get him down finally with about 90 seconds left. He had side mount briefly before Diabate fought to half-guard. Perosh landed a few elbows from the top and fended off a sweep attempt from the Frenchman. Perosh ended the round on top.
It only took Perosh 45 seconds to get Diabate down in the second round and got mount shortly after. Perosh landed a couple of punches before Diabate rolled over and Perosh attacked the neck. Diabate escaped the initial attempt but ended up back in mount, eating punches. Perosh transitioned to north-south briefly before moving back to mount and setting up an arm triangle attempt. Diabate survived but gave up his back again. Perosh fired a barrage of punches to the side of Diabate's head and then locked in the choke.
Perosh is 2-0 as a light heavyweight in the UFC, 2-3 overall for the organization.
Diabate is 2-2 in the UFC.
Terry Etim made short work of Edward Faaloloto at UFC 138, winning via submission in 17 seconds.
Etim improves his record in the UFC's lightweight division to 5-3 and puts his UFC 112 loss to Rafael dos Anjos behind him. He had to sit out almost 20 months with injuries, primarily a nagging rib injury suffered preparing for a scheduled UFC 118 bout with Joe Lauzon.
In today's bout, Etim came out slugging, scoring with kicks and punches before Faaloloto dove in for a take down attempt. That was a fatal error as Etim locked in a guillotine choke and quickly got the tap.
Etim has shown once again that he can feast on marginal UFC opposition, adding Faaloloto (0-3 UFC) to his victim's list along with Shannon Gugerty, Justin Bucholz, Brian Cobb, Sam Stout and Matt Grice. But against higher level opponents like dos Anjos and Gleison Tibao he's come up short.
John Maguire made his UFC debut a successful one by outgrappling Justin Edwards for three rounds at UFC 138.
UFC 138 results: John Maguire defeats Justin Edwards by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
In the first round Edwards came out early throwing inside leg kicks. The third inside leg kick went a little high and forced Maguire to take a break after catching a groin kick. Edwards pounced on the restart and appeared to have Maguire hurt with a spinning back kick to the body followed by an overhand right that dropped Maguire. Maguire survived the blitz and managed to turn the rest of the fight into a pretty involved and interesting grappling bout where Maguire seemed to have a skill advantage.
In the second, Edwards seemed to have the standing edge but landed nothing huge in the first two minutes of the round. Maguire managed to close the distance around the 3 minute mark and slammed Edwards to the ground. He immediately threatened with a rear naked choke attempt but Edwards fended off the attack through an extended battle for hand control. Maguire switched to an arm bar attempt just before the bell rang to end the round.
In the third round Maguire managed to take Edwards down with a single leg attempt. Edwards managed to reverse things with a leg lock attempt. That resulted in a tangle when Maguire went for a leg lock of his own. Edwards got back to his feet but it wasn't long before Maguire initiated another grappling exchange and soon ended up on top in side control. Edwards made the mistake of going for a guillotine and Maguire pounced on his mistake. Maguire got full mount then Edwards gave his back. Edwards managed to escape and get back to his feet with 30 seconds left and ended the fight working for a north-south choke.
It was too little too late as the judges liked what they saw from Maguire.
There's nothing quite like a battle between two British heavyweights but this wasn't your stereotypical battle of brawling football hooligans, instead Philip De Fries succeeded in making it a ground battle and took a unanimous decision win over Rob Broughton at UFC 138.
UFC 138 results: Philip De Fries defeats Rob Broughton by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
In the first round, De Fries (8-0, 1 NC) struggled to take Broughton down but did eventually manage it. He didn't do any damage from the top position and seemed content to control position and wrack up points on the judges cards.
De Fries' game plan nearly came back to bite him in the ass in round two. Going for another take down, he left an arm hanging out and Broughton managed to lock on a nasty kimura attempt. Broughton couldn't get the tap but he did use the hold to reverse position and spent the remainder of the round on top of De Fries and punching him in the face.
Unfortunately for Broughton, De Fries was able to capitalize on his weak take down defense again in the third round. This time there were no mistakes and De Fries rode out the fight on top and took the decision.
Broughton falls to 1-2 in the UFC and could well be cut. De Fries should return although he did little or nothing that makes me think he'll be able to contend in the UFC's heavyweight division.
Michihiro Omigawa lost his last UFC bout in a controversial decision, but he took no chances tonight, dominating Jason Young from bell-to-bell with a suffocating take down and top control game. Young looked to have the better stand up game, but it didn't matter much as Omigawa was able to make the fight overwhelmingly a ground battle.
UFC 138 results: Michihiro Omigawa defeats Jason Young by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Omigawa ate a couple of kicks in the first before he could close distance. An inadvertant headbutt busted up the Brit's right eye before Omigawa got a trip take down. Young was able to cage crawl back up and stand. When they separated Young landed a kick or two before going in for a take down of his own. Unfortunately for Young, Omigawa latched on a guillotine and used it to roll Young over on his back.
In the second, Omigawa got a quick take down but wasn't able to do much from the top position, despite threatening with a kimura attempt. Notably Joe Rogan mentioned the catch wrestling terminology for the hold, calling it a double wrist lock in a nice break from his usual Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu centric lingo.
Young fought back to his feet and fired off a few kicks before Omigawa once again got the clinch and quickly took Young back down. Omigawa didn't do much from the top although he did briefly get mounted position and landed a few elbows.
In the third Omigawa once again took Young down from the clinch. This time he elected to go for a heel hook but it didn't seem like his heart was in it and the long-legged Young quickly escaped. Young threw a punch or two standing before Omigawa once again took him down and this time threatened with a guillotine then transitioned to a front-choke attempt. Young escaped but Omigawa maintained top position.
Young managed to reverse position before the end of the round but it was too little too late. Young falls to 0-2 in the UFC and will likely be cut.
Che Mills took his time in making it to the UFC but once he got there he made short work of opponent Chris Cope. Mills, who's been a professional fighter since 2003, showed he belongs in the big show by catching Cope with a pair of brutal standing knees to the face that finished The Ultimate Fighter veteran in 40 seconds.
UFC 138 results: Che Mills defeats Chris Cope by TKO (referee stoppage) at :40 of round 1.
Mills came into the fight best known for a pair of TKO wins over former Dream champ Marius Zaromskis. After the beating he put on Chris Cope, Mills appears to have future glories ahead of him.
Cope had looked good on the reality show and in his official UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale where he beat Chuck O'Neil by decision. Today's fight was a painful reality check for the reality show vet. It will be interesting to see how he rebounds.
For Mills this is just the beginning of what promises to be an entertaining career in the UFC. He had been set to compete on the UK vs the US season of TUF himself but lost in the eliminator bout to eventual winner James Wilks.
UFC veteran Chris Cariaso welcomed Vaughan Lee to the UFC by beating him in front of his home-town crowd. Lee came into the fight known as a dangerous submission fighter but Cariaso ended up dominating the fight on the ground and Lee was lucky to get away without being submitted himself.
This fight was another installment in the UFC's quest to find British talent that can survive and thrive in the Octagon. Cariaso was the pefect test for the British Lee, being a UFC veteran with a solid albeit unspectacular 2-2 record fighting for Zuffa.
Unfortunately for British MMA, Cariaso survived a tough first round and went on to dominate Lee through the second and third, taking a split decision.
The two southpaws met in the Octagon. Cariaso scored first with a pair of right hands but then ducked into Lee's left knee going for a take down. Lee finished the take down but couldn't keep Cariaso down long.
Cariaso couldn't break free of Lee's clinch though and the bantamweight was soon back on his back. Then the Facebook stream froze and when it returned, they were back on their feet in central cage, fighting at distance. Lee quickly forced the action back into the cage.
In the second, Lee once again scored at a distance before forcing the clinch. He didn't manage to get Cariaso down though and Cariaso scored with a flurry of punches when they separated. Then he landed a sharp left and took Lee down. After a moment or two, Cariaso got full mount in the center of the cage. Lee fought for a hip escape and drew applause from his home town crowd.
Cariaso quickly passed to side mount though and landed a couple of sharp elbows to Lee's face before going back to mount. Lee again hip escaped out of trouble but couldn't get off his back before the round ended.
Cariaso scored first with punches in the third. Lee answered with a head kick then forced Cariaso back into the cage. Cariaso reversed position and took Lee down with a single leg. Once on the ground he again transitioned from guard to side control to mount and then took Vaughan Lee's back. Lee managed to fend off a rear naked choke attempt but ended up mounted at the end of the exchange. Lee gave up his back a second time then rolled out of it but couldn't escape being in an awful position.
After threatening an arm triangle Cariaso began to rain down hard elbows on Lee's temple when the Facebook stream went out briefly. When the stream returned, Cariaso was again on Lee's back landing punches and ended the fight working for a choke.
The judges ruled it a split decision in favor of Cariaso.
Chris Cariaso (11-3, 1-1 UFC) and Vaughan Lee (11-6-1, 0-0 UFC) opened the UFC 138 preliminaries in a bantamweight fight streamed live on Facebook. In addition to his UFC experience, Cariaso split a pair of WEC bouts. Lee was 5-0-1 since 2009.
Mark Munoz Beats Chris Leben Blind And Demands Title Shot At UFC 138
Mark Munoz established himself as a bona fide contender in the UFC's middleweight division by beating up Chris Leben at UFC 138. Munoz used his wrestling advantage to take Leben down repeatedly and batter him on the ground. The referee was forced to stop the fight after the second round when Leben admitted he could no longer see out of his bloodied right eye.
UFC 138 results: Mark Munoz defeats Chris Leben by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.
After the win, Munoz called for a title shot against his friend and sometimes training partner Anderson Silva. He's now 6-1 as a middleweight in the UFC.
Munoz got the early take down but wasn't able to bring his fearsome ground and pound to bear before Leben escaped back to his feet. In the clinch, Leben ate a few body shots but managed to separate and land some hard punches before taking Munoz down. Munoz covered up and fought back to his feet. After some exchanges, Leben got a second take down but Munoz reversed when Leben went for a guillotine choke. Munoz landed a couple of very hard rights before Leben tried to stand up. Munoz applied a front headlock to drag Leben back down. Munoz landed some vicious shots but Leben stood up and advanced in the face of some withering incoming fire. Leben got him down again and threatened with a front headlock of his own, ending the round dropping bombs down on Munoz.
In round 2, Leben forced the clinch only to be immediately reversed against the cage by Munoz. Leben fought off one trip attempt, but Munoz took him down with the second try. Munoz fired to the body then began to connect with Leben's head with brutally hard right hands. Leben was bloodied before he managed to stand up and get back to his feet. It was only a brief respite as Munoz quickly took him right back down and rained down hard elbows from half guard. Leben gave up his back and fought to his knees, but Munoz rose and battered the side of Leben's head. Leben then got back up and got a front headlock then a guillotine choke but Munoz fought it off and survived. The referee stopped the action and called in the doctor to look at Leben's eye. Leben told the doc he couldn't see but when the referee asked him again, with a warning that he would stop the fight if Leben couldn't see. Leben unsurprisingly said he could see.
When the action restarted, Leben quickly stuffed a shot and briefly had a front headlock, but Munoz brilliantly spun free and got atop Leben. Munoz took mount and fired down with more punches. Leben fought back to his knees and Munoz immediately dragged him down again. The crowd chanted "Leben! Leben!" as Munoz battered him until the end of the round.
After the round Leben told his corner he couldn't see and the referee stopped the fight.
Nov 05 2:57p by Nate Wilcox - 1 comment